Friday, August 25, 2023

Making Movies for God



I just wanted to share this because it's so cute. God writes little love letters to me, and I write little love letters back... it's adorable. I'm really grateful because I had been feeling drained and rather depressed. I'd been having feelings of despair lately in my heart and was unsure of what step to take next.

Today God spoke clearly to me. I was in the same section of the bookstore where he spoke to me clearly once before (I talk about that HERE)--In the religion section, literally right under C.S. Lewis' books. This section is like an oracle now! Haha. If I want clear answers, I should just go there and ask God my question.

For some background, I originally majored in film production in college, focusing on screenwriting and directing. Life led me down a different path, though, where I was focusing on health and healing of the physical body (as a massage therapist, health and wellness counselor, and most recently working at a rehab facility doing recreational therapy with elderly dementia residents.) But my heart has been pulling me back to the creative arts. I've been considering whether I should pursue more "logical" endeavors or go back to filmmaking. 

As I was browsing the religion section of the bookstore, a book stuck out to me again (just like last time). The title was: "Making Movies" by Sidney Lumet. It didn't even belong in that section! I picked it up to see if maybe it intertwined the analogy of filmmaking with religion, but it was literally a book on filmmaking. I looked through it, and I ended up buying the book because it was actually a pretty good, well-rounded one on filmmaking! (I also bought Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" because I've been meaning to read that for a long time. ANYWAY, I was super inspired, not only to start getting back into my passion of filmmaking and screenwriting, but it also gave me an idea about how filmmaking actually IS related to God. I'm super excited and passionate about this, so excuse me while I nerd out here and draw parallels between God and film.

We are literally making movies for God.

God shines his Light (Love) into us, and it shines through our action images, by means of our bodies (or a projector), outward onto a "screen" (life). The human soul plays out a unique film of God's Love.

I wrote this short bit of prose about the analogy of God's Love and a film projector a while back, (Now it's all clicking together!):

The soul is shown clearly
when held up to a mirror (others)
Reflecting God's light-- 
through our action images.
Like images on a film reel, 
unique to each created being. 
God's light of love shines into us;
We reflect his light onto others  
and like a projector,
We use that light to make "Love" manifest.
Our souls are constantly playing out our version of Love
through a lens
on the screen which is without
and we call the screen life.
God can see our nature--
His own light being made into a new unique art--our dynamic souls
What a delight it must be
to see
Your creation discovering You.
~

Our lives can be seen as a screenplay with a three-act structure. 

I think God enjoys a story of a Hero's Journey just as much as we do. If you're not familiar with The Hero's Journey, it's an archetypal narrative structure found in stories from all around the world, first introduced by Joseph Campbell in his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces". This fundamental monomyth structure is found in countless stories from Jesus' story to Star Wars to The Matrix and Harry Potter. I remember studying Campbell's structure when I took screenwriting classes in college. We all like watching characters overcome and go through a transformation. Before they come to a transformation though, they must first be called to adventure (in our case following Christ) and then the second step is the refusal of the call (this is maybe where we fall and succumb to sin). Some of the other steps include trials/friends/foes, a moment of despair and ultimately a resurrection of the hero and their return/rebirth.

You may be thinking that your life cannot be a movie for God because maybe you feel a little too broken. But every Hero has wounds. Otherwise, the character would not be relatable, and we wouldn't love them. Realize that God loves you, not despite your wounds, but because of them and he yearns for your need. He also delights in your ability to overcome, to bring the elixir or knowledge which is the true reward of your journey and transformation, and to finally return home.

Make your life an epic adventure... the best Love story ever. Discover how you fit into this theological play that we are all so deeply written into. Our essences yearn to be one with the grand Love Story. Get out there and start shooting. Make an amazing Movie for God.


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